The MLJ Trust presents original audio recordings of the sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981). Dr. Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh minister who preached and tau...
Adoption is a beautiful picture of selflessness and the strong protecting the vulnerable. To be a Christian means to be adopted into God’s family. Christians are chosen by God and brought into His family through no righteousness of their own. In this sermon on adoption, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains through Scripture how God transfers His people from children of wrath to His family as sons and daughters. Christians have been freed from sin’s bondage and are grafted into God’s eternal family. Some teachers have claimed this to be of no effect and instead support a universal fatherhood of God and universal brotherhood of all people— yet, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones proves, that view is unbiblical. Similar to physical adoption, spiritual adoption has beneficial consequences for the believer: namely, the release from a spirit of bondage and fear into a spirit of liberty, unhindered access to the Father, and God’s present protection, consolation, and perfect provision for every need and the promise of a future inheritance.
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Saving Faith
“Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” The author of Hebrews 11 is clear: the path to pleasing God is paved by saving faith. Faith is the channel through which salvation in Jesus Christ is given to a believer. What exactly is faith? Is there a place for reason? In this sermon on saving faith, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones analyzes the two elements of saving faith through the lens of Scripture: an assent to the truth of Christianity, and a firm commitment to living it out. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, the latter is needed to understand Jesus’s teachings on a life of full surrender. Though faith involves the mind and intellect, it also involves the heart. Additionally, Dr. Lloyd-Jones presents the case for why faith and reason are not at odds with each other, as is commonly claimed today by secularists. Though reason can lead to many conclusions about God and His word, it can only take a person so far— belief in Christ and not one’s works or mental assent is needed. Nothing else in this world will satisfy.
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Repentance
What is the difference between repentance and remorse? In this sermon on repentance, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses the incredible weight of these topics that separate eternal life from death. Repentance is a turning from sin to Christ. It is a genuine regret and full confession of sin. But how does it differ from worldly remorse? Dr. Lloyd-Jones carefully explains that while repentance involves feelings of anguish and guilty remorse, it is repentance that results in a change of mind. Worldly remorse will cry, but not forsake and turn away from sinful activities. The gospel message must call others to submit their life to Christ, not just feel bad about their sin. Only once one has been saved can they come to know the joy of discipleship, forgiveness, and move forward in Christian living. For the gospel message to be believable, the world must see transformed lives, lives redeemed from eternal death.
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Conversion
False converts are more common than one might think. True conversion is an act of God upon the human heart. But what exactly are characteristics of a true conversion? In this sermon on conversion, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tackles these questions, showing how conversion is the first exercise of the new nature in ceasing from old forms of life and starting a new life. For the new convert, it is the moment at which one passes from spiritual death to eternal life in Christ. Imposters throughout church history claim to accept Jesus and then turn from Him after a period of time. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out, it is entirely possible to undergo a counterfeit, temporary conversion if one submits to a false gospel based on feelings or experiences. “Yet,” Lloyd-Jones notes, “the defense of the Christian faith must not rest on something we experience, but on its objectivity.” True salvation is not based on whimsical feelings but on two essential factors of salvation. Believers are less concerned with personal experiences and emotions, and instead yearn to know God Himself.
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Union with Christ
In this sermon on union with Christ, Dr, Martyn Lloyd Jones states that “The union of the believer with Christ is one of the most glorious doctrines of the Christian faith.” What makes this biblical doctrine extremely beautiful and incredibly vital to one’s understanding of Christian living? How does it differ from the false views of eternity and spirituality? In this sermon, Dr. Lloyd-Jones teaches what it means to be permanently, irrevocably united with Christ. Christians are now partakers of the divine nature, complete through His priestly work. Their relationship with God is personal and individual. There is no need for Catholicism’s idea of an intermediary as the relationship is not dependent on a church or priest. Beginning with the mystics, a view of eternity and spirituality has emerged that reduces a person after death to no more than a part of the spiritual aura surrounding the universe. Dr. Lloyd-Jones cuts through this false view and demonstrates the beauty of the Christian worldview where Christians maintain a distinct personhood throughout now and eternity, while still enjoying the divine nature due to the union with Christ.
The MLJ Trust presents original audio recordings of the sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981). Dr. Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture. Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John.